Tangled Up In Blue

"We always did feel the same, we just saw it from a different point of view"- Bob Dylan

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Remember Then

Everytime I hear the Bob Seger tune Night Moves, I can't help but smile. I always think back to a time when I was riding around those Alabama backroads with that "black haired beauty with big dark eyes" who had "points all her own sitting way up high, way up firm and high". Up in those hills "where the woods got heavy", out in the back seat of whatever old car I had at the time. No "we weren't in love, oh no, far from it", actually we were just "young and restless and bored".

I get chills at the end of that song. The music stops and Seger says these words,

"I awoke last night to the sound of thunderHow far off I sat and wonderedStarted humming a song from 1962Ain't it funny how the night movesWhen you just don't seem to have as much to loseStrange how the night movesWith autumn closing in"

In my mind I always replace the year 1962 with 1982 or even 1988, even though it doesn't rhyme. That song means so much to me now. More than it ever did back then.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Yeah, Baby---I'm Finally Here

Well, it took me a few days to get blogger to work for me on this site, but here I am!I'll post more when it's not the middle of the night. But, I did want to start a fun little game I came up with. (A proposition ending in a preposition--not bad)

The idea is to join two songs together with one word, the word being the last word of the first song, and the first word of the last song. The clues are the artists. Here is an example.Your clue is, The Grateful Dead and Paul McCartney and Wings.

The answer is: Uncle Johns Band On The Run.

Here is another example:

The Rolling Stones and The Moody Blues.

Answer: Ruby Tuesday Afternoon.

Got it?Let's try a few and see if you get them.

1. Van Morrison and Neil Diamond.2. U2 and Joe Jackson3. Player and Gene Autry4. Run DMC with Aerosmith and Carole King

Monday, August 29, 2005

Dylan Top Tens

Sharon started it.....

Hmmmm....Want to try a top 10 Dylan in no particular order? I'll start:TUIBLike A Rolling Stone(I think that's my personal favorite)Just Like Tom Thumb BluesIt's All Over Now Baby BlueMy Back PagesPositively 4th StreetGotta Serve SomebodyAll Along The Watchtower(but the Hendrix version)Just Like A WomanI Want You

Now me...

1. Tangled Up In BlueThis song is my personal favourite because of the haunting melody and the bittersweet journey to all stages of love on the journey to maturity. 2. Idiot Wind Just Kidding. Hate this song. It's the burning black hole in Blood on the Tracks

2.You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoIt's the happiest song about the saddest thing and I like the irony. I confess to singing this to my dogs.

3. DignityI like the shifting image of Dignity throughout this song.

4.Shelter From The StormI admit that I wept openly when they used this for Jerry Maguire. It's the perfect song about devotion to a lover. The lyrics are just beautiful.

5. Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of HeartsI don't know why I like this song. I just do. It goes on forever and has that true balladeer style. It reminds me of oldstyle Irish ballads like Whiskey In the Jar. Also, if you haven't noticed by now, I am partial to Blood On the Tracks. It's one of my Desert Island Discs.

6. The Mighty QuinnI got into the Mannfred Mann cover when I was a kid and named my dog after this song. It's not the best song, but loyalty to may gay dog keeps this in the top 10.

7. Tomorrow Is A Long TimeRod Stewart's cover is haunting.

8. Knockin' On Heaven's DoorI really disliked this song until Warren Zevon covered it so raw and painfully on The Wind.

9. It's All Over Now, Baby BlueLove this song, but am partial to the Van Morrison cover. (Notice a trend? I either like BOtT or covers)

10. Rainy Day Women # 12 & #35I know it's probably childish to enjoy this song for the immature interpretation of the chorus, but I do.

My Rap Confessional

I hated rap. Any exposure I had to it was to violent, atonal and misogynistic rhyming packed full to the brim with almost indecipherable AAVE . If you said 'rap', I immediately thought of cop killaz, b!tches and bling. Not my scene in the least.

Spike Lee converted me after midnight one night. Indiana girl that I am, I was compelled to watch He Got Game on HBO. The story was good, the b-ball scenes were great and the characters compelling. Oddly enough, Lee's soundtrack mixed standard rap with gospel and Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man . It was a wonderful musical descriptor for the conflicting social pressures facing Jesus Shuttlesworth throughout the movie.

Then came the two-note electric guitar intro to For What It's Worth, another favourite of mine. No Stephen Stills, though. Instead it was Chuck D., and instead of tuning him out I actually listened.

my wanderin' got my ass wonderin'where Christ is in all this crisis...keep more than your eye can see and ears can hearyear by year all the sense disappearsnonsense preserves prayers laced with fear

I was so captivated by that song I bought the soundtrack and have listened to it repeatedly over the last 6 years-->always out of my husband's earshot. The raw poetry speaks to me at times as strongly as Eliot and moves me as deeply.

Hot Rocks City

I posted this on my site last week, but I figured I'd give it another round on this board since it seems appropriate.

I saw the Rolling Stones play last week at Fenway Park in Boston. The opening night of their “A Bigger Bang” tour, the show was heavy on the classic tunes and light on the surprises. I wasn’t expecting them to delve too deeply at a stadium show (even a small-ish venue like Fenway), but a few deep tracks would have been nice.

The stage was absolutely staggering –- and I’m usually indifferent towards stage decorations. It appeared as if they had constructed a four-story building behind the stage, with fans sitting into the lower two stories and lights and fireworks in the upper two.

Our original seats were in the right field grandstand, and although the side view of the stage wasn’t much to complain about, the sound was atrocious. We stayed in those seats for four songs and could hear the audience at least three times as loudly as Mick and the band. Luckily, we were able to sneak down to the floor for the majority of the show, and when a smaller stage “floated” into the crowd (I can’t explain exactly how this happened because I had no overhead view, but it looked pretty damn cool), we were only around 20 rows back from the band. The sound on the floor was perfect, and it gave one an excellent view of the extravagant stage – but I could never have afforded to fork over the $450 per ticket (plus charges).

This was the fifth time I've seen the Stones play, and unless they play the Beacon Theater in New York (a rumor), it will probably be the last time I see them on this tour. I just can't afford their high prices, and, frankly, I'm a little sick of Brown Sugar.

Highlight of the evening: a Ray Charles tribute with (Night Time is) The Right Time.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Greetings

I'd like to thank Glen for inviting me to be a part of this site and give a bit of an introduction for myself. I'm one of the liberal visititors to Glen's political site and operate my own such site, Where the Dolphins Play. But this site isn't about politics, it's about music, so let's get to the musical me.

Music has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. I probably first began singing in the preschool choir at the church I grew up in. That of course progressed into the childrens' choir (where I had my first experiences with participating in stage musicals), then into youth choir before finally leaving the church. I didn't take any music classes in school until my junior year in high school when I decided to audition and was selected for the show choir. That's when music (as a creator versus a listener) really took off for me. My senior year in high school, my schedule was filled almost exclusively with music, including music theory, show choir, and a new chamber ensemble of the school's "elite singers."

Instrumentally, my experiences were much more limited. Growing up, I always had an interest in instruments but the most I was able to do was teach myself what I could on a little 32 (non-full-sized) key keyboard that my mother had at some point purchased for herself and never learned to play. I desperately wanted piano lessons (but then as a child I also desperately wanted to take karate classes and gymnastics, and no parent can afford, or should, put their child in everything they think they might have an interest in) but never was put in them until my senior year in high school after I announced my intention to get a degree in music when I went off to college.

As I said, I went off to college to get a music degree thinking, at the time, that I would be interested in conducting a high school chorus. As my college years passed I decided that I did not want to teach (be it music or anything else) and briefly considered music therapy (which I still find somewhat fascinating) before scrapping that idea and switching my major from Music Education to General Music. During college I also picked up a few more instruments and now, apart from singing, can play piano and guitar well and have basic (ie. beginner) knowledge of clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and flute. Having graduated with a B.A. in Music, but not sure what to do with it, I'm currently pursuing a second degree (part-time) in graphic design while working as a web designer (I'll be updating this site's template as soon as I get the chance, but bear with me until that point).

As for my tastes in music when I'm being a listener rather than a performer, I'm incredibly eclectic. My CD collection (which numbers more than 200) contains both Mozart and Metallica and just about everything in between. The only genre I've never gotten into is rap. Typically my radio is tuned to light rock stations so that might be what you'll see me post on more than anything else, but who knows. Well, now you know a bit about the musical me. It's great to be a part of this little project, see ya soon.

Yesterday Was The Anniversary Of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Death

It's been 15 years since Stevie Ray Vaughn and four other musicians affiliated with Eric Clapton, died in a tragic helicopter crash. He was only 35 years old. Stevie was one of the most incredible blues guitarists to ever live, in my opinion. I remember when he died and how disappointed I was that such a great talent had been taken from us at such a young age. Although he was sober when he died, Stevie Ray Vaughn had almost died at an earlier date from alcoholism and drug addiction. I remember him saying in an interview that he used to mix whiskey and cocaine in his coffee everyday. The whiskey and cocaine had eaten the inside of his stomach so badly that he actually began coughing up blood. Thankfully, Stevie was able to find peace and get clean. He was probably in the best shape he had ever been in at the time of his death. I guess that is what makes me so mad about his dying like he did. I mean, the guy finally gets it together and then he dies in a stupid helicopter crash. What a tragedy.

By the way, the inspiration from this post came from the fact that our local classic rock station (105.9 The Rock), which has a blues show on Sunday night, is doing a tribute to Stevie right now. I hope they play his version of the Jimi Hendrix tune Little Wing. Stevie's version, which does not include any lyrics, is so awesome that it actually brings tears to my eyes. I can't even begin to explain how good that song makes me feel.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

What This Website Is All About.

As most of you know, I have been operating a political blog since January 1, 2005. I love to talk about politics, but in spite of what some of you may gather from reading Nashville Truth. I don't hate those who disagree with me. In fact, I think most people on both sides are very sincere in their beliefs and most are really good people. Being that I am a libertarian/conservative, I even find myself agreeing with many liberals on social issues. But when it comes to the issue of capitalism and the free market, our differences sometimes cause some very heated discussions. But I still don't think that we are all that different. If we really were to ever sit down and talk about something other than politics and religion, we might actually find out that we liked each other. That is what this website is all about, having people who see things from a totally different point of view, sit around and discuss something that we might have in common.

I want to invite everyone who normally blogs about political issues, but also loves music, to be a part of this website. That is right, anybody, regardless of whether you are a conservative, liberal, libertarian, green, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, Hindu, or whatever. Yes, I know some of you may think that this is a silly idea and that I must have fallen back into my drugged out hippie years, but please just give it a shot. You might find out that we all have more in common than we think we do. The only stipulation though is that you do not use this website to discuss politics. We all do enough of that on our regular websites. Of course, if you talk about a political musician, that is okay. I would just hate to see this friendly place turn into a place of debate. Spiritual talk concerning music is permitted and encouraged, but nothing specifically religious. In other words, nothing preachy that might start an argument.

So please email me and let me know if you are interested in posting on this website. Remember that all are welcome, even if you don't like me personally. This website is not about me or anyone else. It's just about music. Whatever type of music you want to talk about, you are welcome to discuss it here. So please, drop me an email.